Probate help required. Do not have a clue.

Errata

It's difficult knowing what was owed to him, what he owned & such. We only have this briefcase to go off really, but if he had paid subscriptions to something else that wasn't in this briefcase, then we wont have a clue - insurance policies & such.

Any regular or annual subs could appear on his previous bank statements, as should any insurance payments. If your mum decides to use a solicitor they will need more info on insurance policies etc than "I think he had one with an insurance company, I don't know which one", so even using a solicitor requires a fair amount of digging around for details by the family.
Having said that, I think most insurance companies are good at identifying if there is a policy with them if the executor(s) write to them with details of full name, DOB, all addresses that might be relevant, and a death certificate asking if they hold a policy.

Savvy_Sue

InNeedofHelp wrote: »

You can't read them? :huh: Did you click them? I put them in thumbnail format so that they wouldn't take forever loading up for people. If you click them & then click the photo again, it should be readable.

sorry, I hadn't clicked on them, and I also apologise for leading you astray over what to look for.

Crabapple wrote: »

Regarding the paperwork and solicitors, there's a lot of people on here anti that by the looks of things! You certainly can help your mother and uncle get the papers together and fill them in and the first stage is the fact-finding by going through paperwork. However, if they are more comfortable getting a solicitor's firm to do it then that is their call. They have to be given an estimate in writing, and if the solicitors aren't appointed, if it seems high then you can shop around.

Oh absolutely: if you (all of you) don't feel confident and comfortable going the DIY route, then there's no shame in using solicitors, it's the sensible thing to do. However the first stage of gathering information has to be done by someone, and it's often easiest if it's done by family rather than the solicitors: if you find it at home and take it in to their office, it's done. If you have to get someone from their office into the home to go through paperwork - well, that could feel a little intrusive to me.

As for things he might have paid that you don't know about, it's worth looking through the last year of bank statements to check you can identify everything.

InNeedofHelp

I was having another look through that book tonight & i had a thought:

Most people only own one house.

When 'evidence' of his worth is being gathered, do we factor in his house from his first marriage?

I would imagine yes, but if so then this would present some issues:

* what was his exact interest in this house?

I know he always said he had a say on half the house. Or he would get half the value of its sale. He also said he'd get half the value if his ex wife:

Married
had someone living in there for a period exceeding 3 months
some other clause
some other clause.

So i THINK his shout was 50%, but i'm not totally sure & we have no real evidence either.

His will obviously passes whatever interest he had in the house directly to his 1st daughter, but i don't know whether we're supposed to factor this house in. If we are, then we're a bit stuck.

InNeedofHelp

Back onto the first page.


Any idea regarding his 'share' in his first house with his first wife?

Savvy_Sue

I think you will have to get that 'other' house valued, and it can't pass to his daughter without being included in his total estate.

We used a proper valuation agent to value the house when Dad died, we had to pay but that way we knew Mum wouldn't 'accidentally' get spammed by any estate agents who didn't believe that she was going to carry on living there.

dangers

We had to have m-I-l's house valued for probate; we needed two estate agents and we had to pay £60 each for the privilege!